外泌体分离方法的研究进展

Comparison of methods of isolating exosomes

外泌体是由几乎所有真核细胞主动分泌至胞外的包含了复杂RNA和蛋白质的膜性囊泡小体,参与细胞间的物质交换和信息传递。由于其具有被应用于临床早期诊断、疾病治疗与预后评估的巨大潜力和价值,外泌体及其功能研究日益受到广大研究者的青睐和重视。通过可靠的分离与鉴定方法从各种生物样本中获得高质量的外泌体则是进行外泌体相关研究和应用的前提。因此,本文归纳介绍了外泌体的几种常用分离方法,分析比较了它们的特点,以便研究者可根据自己的研究内容和实验条件选择合适的方法获取高质量的外泌体,用于开展相关研究或应用。

Exosomes are a type of extracellular vesicle active secreted by virtually all eukaryotic cells.Exosomes contain complex RNAs and proteins and take part in the exchange of materials and the transmission of information between cells.Exosomes from different biological samples usually contain different components and perform different functions.There is a growing interest in basic research on and clinical use of exosomes due to their great potential and value for use in treatment of disease and prediction of prognosis and as biomarkers of health and disease.A prerequisite for exosome research or use is the isolation of quality exosomes from types of biospecimens using a reliable method of isolation and identification.Therefore,this paper summarized the current methods of isolating exosomes and it compared their features and uses in order to provide a convenient reference for researchers searching for a suitable and reliable method of isolating quality exosomes for further research or use based on the specific form of research and experimental conditions.Differential centrifugation remains one of the most common techniques for isolation of exosomes.It is also a particularly time-consuming and inefficient method of isolation.Centrifugation at too high a speed can also cause damage to or destruction of exosomes,and the impurity of isolated exosomes is one of its obvious disadvantages.Ultrafiltration can be used to isolate exosomes depending on the size of microvesicles.It allows the separation of exosomes from proteins and other macromolecules.Sucrose concentration gradient centrifugation is also a classic method with which to obtain highly pure exosomes,but it is tedious and time-consuming to perform.With technical developments and innovation,we believe that new,efficient,and convenient methods of isolating exosomes will emerge to meet different needs.